Fairness and clarity? You must be joking…

THOUGH a majority of Equitable Life members seem likely to support the company's rescue plan, many policyholders are scarred by recent experiences with the insurer.

They scoff at the use of words such as 'fairness' and 'clarity' in an 80-page document sent out by Equitable to explain its compromise deal.

Hundreds of the 500,000 policyholders who received the information pack claim they were treated anything but fairly when they tried unsuccessfully to withdraw funds.

The company says it takes a month to sort out requests to leave the life office, a claim hotly denied by angry members.

Sidney Greene, 79, of Golders Green, north-west London, says: 'In principle, I am in favour of the deal put forward by Equitable. But until it gets its house in order, dealing with basic customer queries, it will have a tough time getting the result it wants.'

Sidney and wife Claire, 78, had two with-profits bonds with Equitable. They surrendered one in July, for which they say they were incorrectly penalised by Equitable. They tried to cash in the other bond, also in July, but received the money only this month.

Sidney says: 'The official line is that it takes two to four weeks to withdraw money. I have been told this many times over the past three months, but Equitable has only just given me my money. How can I trust Equitable when it comes to its proposals?'

Paul Braithwaite, chairman of the Equitable Members'

Action Group, agrees it is hard to accept Equitable's pledges when it broke them in the past.

He says: 'When Equitable chairman Vanni Treves took the helm this year he assured us the financial situation was stable and that no policyholder was leaving with more than their fair share. When he slashed pension values by 16% in July, he destroyed any credibility.

'Trust, transparency and truth are in short supply at Equitable.'

Others query Equitable's decision to spend more than £1m on a glossy booklet, called The Way Ahead, to explain the deal. Brian Dennehy of independent financial adviser Dennehy, Weller & Co in Chislehurst, Kent, is unimpressed.

He says: 'You have to take its claim that it is sorting out policy requests in just a few weeks with a pinch of salt. I have scores of angry clients fighting to get out or trying in vain to get hold of basic policy information.'

Equitable admits its service standards have fallen short, but does not want members to allow the problems to cloud their judgment when it comes to assessing the compromise deal.

A spokesman says: 'No one is arguing that the service is defendable. I certainly hope these administrative problems do not affect the way people vote.'